Lubricating means for a rolling mill



Feh. 195? c. A. MALONE ET AL LUBRICATING MEANS FOR A ROLLING MILL 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 15, 1954 w A; n

Feb. 2%, 1957 c. A. MALONE m- AL LUBRICATING MEANS FOR A ROLLING-MILL 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 15, 1954 157 c. A MALONE Er AL LUBRICATING MEANS FOR A ROLLING MILL 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed March 15, 1954 United States Patent flice 2,782,662 Pia-tented Feb. 26, 1957 LUBRICATING MEANS FOR A ROLLING MILL Cyril Anthony Malone, deceased, late of Bamford, England, by Laura Malone, executrix, of Bamford, England, William France, Sheflield, and John France Whitfield, Huddersfield, England, assignors to Samuel sborn & Company Limited, Sheflield, England, a British company Application March 15, 1954, Serial No. 416,312 Claims priority, application Great Britain March 16, 1953 Claims. (Cl. 801) This invention relates to cold-rolling of metal sheet or strip.

It is customary to provide a pair of companion upper and lower work rolls in a housing for operating upon the metal sheet or strip and to support each of these rolls at its opposite ends in bearings but owing to the tendency of the rolls to bend in a vertical plane during passage therebetween of the sheet or strip 'much stouter and heavier rolls are mounted one each on top of the upper roll and under the lower roll for idling rotational movement in contact with the respective work roll in order to give support thereto and to prevent such bending thereof, the work rolls themselves also being of reasonably large diameter so as to be inherently resistant, as far as possible, to bending in the direction of rolling, that is, in a horizontal plane. In consequence a very large housing and roll assembly has to be employed which is sometimes unwieldy in comparison with the load imposed by the sheet or strip during rolling thereof.

It is known, however, to use work rolls of smaller diameter with a number of additional supporting rolls but in some such cases complicatedand expensive arrangements of numerous additional supporting rolls are essentially employed in order to provide adequate support for the small work rolls.

An object of this invention is to provide that, in a rolling mill for the cold-rolling of metal sheet or strip, a pair of companion work rolls is mounted in separate half bearings in a roll stand such that each roll is journalled in its bearing substantially throughout the length of its working surface, the rolls, along with their bearings, being accommodated one in each of a pair of opposing roll-supporting members adjust-ably mounted in the roll stand, enclosed lubricant reservoirs being associated at least one with each bearing and having open communication with the surface of the roll therein, and lubricant sealing means being provided for each roll and its bearing at adjacent exposed surfaces of said roll and bearing.

The lubricant reservoirs maybe provided one in each bearing extending longitudinally of 'a' side face thereof and spaced from the roll engaging surface thereof, lubricant conveying ports extending from said reservoir to said roll engaging surface being provided at longitudinally spaced intervals in the bearing.

Alternatively the lubricant reservoirs may be provided one in each roll-supporting member extending longitudinally of a side face thereof, lubricant conveying ports extending from said reservoir to the bearing engaging surface of said roll-supporting member, and a lubricant receiving passage being provided longitudinally in the bearing in open communication with the roll engaging surface thereof and with said lubricant conveying ports.

A suitable feed nipple is provided for each lubricant reservoir to permit the filling and subsequent replenishment thereof with lubricant which may be fed under pressure.

The lubricant sealing means include sealing members and pneumatic or hydraulic means for pressing said members in sealing engagement with the rolls.

The lubricant sealing means at adjacent exposed longitudinal surfaces of each roll and its bearing may comprise one or more sealing strips extending longitudinally of the roll at opposite sides of the axis thereof and supported in edgewise contact'with the roll exteriorly of the bearing therefor by retaining members detachably secured 'to the roll-supporting member.

A further object is to provide lubricant conveying ports for the adequate flow of lubricant from the lubricant reservoirs to the surfaces of the rolls.

Yet another object is to provide lubricant sealing means at adjacent exposed surfaces of the rolls and their bearings so as to ensure retention of lubricant between the contacting surfaces of the rolls and their bearings.

Still another object is to provide means detachably secured to the roll-supporting members for supporting the lubricant sealing means.

Still another object is to provide resilient means for pressing sealing members of the sealing means against the surfaces of the rolls.

The rolls are each positively driven either from a common driving unit or each by a separate driving unit and one roll may be driven from an end opposite to that at which the other roll is driven.

These and other objects will be apparent from the following description in which reference is had to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation, partly in section, of one form of rolling mill according to this invention for the cold-rolling of metal sheet.

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a section on an enlarged scale taken on the line IIl-1II of Fig. 1.

,Fig. 4 is a section ta'kenon the line IX-IV of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a similar view to Fig. 3 but showing an alternative arrangement of sealing means for the rolls.

Fig. 6 is a section taken on the line VIVI of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a section taken on the line VIIVII of Fig. 5.

In Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive, a pair of roll housings 10 constitute a roll stand 11 in which companion upper and lower horizontal work rolls 12 and 13 are mounted in half bearings 14 and 15 respectively of upper and lower roll-supporting members 16 and 17. The upper rollsupporting member 16 is resiliently and adjustably suspended at opposite ends in known manner by bolts 18 from eye-lugs 19 of the roll stand 11 and the lower roll-supporting member rests upon the lower horizontal faces (not shown) of the windows 20 of the two housings 1% of the roll stand and is adjustable horizontally in a direction transversely of the rolls by means of adjusting members 21 connected to the housings of the roll stand.

The work roll 12 is adapted to be driven -at one end from any convenient source of power and the work-roll 13 similarly driven from the opposite end and as will be seen in Fig. l, the two work-rolls are journalled in their bearings 14 and 15 throughout their working length.

The bearings are each provided along one of their side faces with a longitudinal passage constituting an oil reservoir 22 closed at the outer side and each end by a closure plate 23, said reservoir being fed with oil under pressure through a feed inlet 24 in an end face of the bearing. Ports 25 extending from the reservoir 22 to the roll engaging surface of the hearing are provided at longitudinal intervals in the bearing for lubricating the roll and bearing.

Provided at the work exit side of each roll and adjacent the exposed faces :of the bearing therefor are two oil seal ing strips 26, 27 which extend longitudinally of the roll in edgewise engagement therewith, said sealing strips being held in position spacedly from each other by a pair of recessed retaining plates 28, 29 secured to the roll-supporting member by bolts 30. The recessed parts of the retaining plates accommodate the sealing strips and behind each of said strips is a flexible inflatable tube 31 filled with compressed air, thus providing resilient means maintaining the sealing strips under pressure in engagement with the roll, interchangeable packing pieces 32 being provided behind the tube 31.

, Similarly provided at the work entrant side of the rolls are two spaced oil sealing strips 33, 34 housed in separate grooves 35 of a bracket 36 secured to the roll-supporting member by screwed stud 37, said strips 33 and 34 being urged against the roll by the compressed air filled tubes 38.

In the alternative construction shown in Figs. 5, 6 and 7, an oil reservoir 39 is provided in each roll-supporting member at the work exit side of the rolls instead of in the roll-bearing and ports 40 are provided at longitudinal intervals of said member extending from the reservoir to the bearing engaging surface of the roll-supporting member, the inner end of said ports 40 being located closely adjacent the edge face of the bearing which terminates distantly from a retaining plate 41 for a U-leather sealing member 42 at the work exit side of the rolls 12 and 13 so as to provide a longitudinal oil passage 43. The U-leather is so disposed that one of its flanges is urged against the roll surface by the pressure of oil in the oil passage 43.

At the work entrant side of the rolls, a similar passage 44, a U-leather 45 and retaining plate 46 therefor are provided.

The pairs of sealing strips 26, 27 and 33, 34 are provided at the work exit and work entrant sides of the rolls respectively and held by retaining plates 28, 29 and bracket 36 in similar manner to that shown in Fig. 3.

The reservoir 39 is provided with a feed nipple 47.

The opposite ends of each of the oil passages 43 and 44 are closed by an end sealing cover 48 having a sealing ring 49 housed therein around the roll 12, sealing members 50 also being provided immediately behind said seal ing ring and adjacent the sealing strips 26 and 33 and the U-leather 42.

The sealing strips 26, 27 and 33, 34 may also serve as wipers for cleaning the surfaces of the rolls.

The retaining plate 29 for the sealing strips at the work exit side of the rolls may serve to guide the work away from the rolls.

What we claim and desire to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A rolling mill for cold rolling metal sheet or strip comprising, in combination, a pair of roll housings constituting a roll stand, a pair of small diameter upper and lower companion work rolls, a roll supporting member for the upper roll resiliently and adjustably suspended in the roll stand, a roll supporting member for the lower roll adjustably mounted in the roll stand, a half bearing in each roll-supporting member affording metal-to-metal contact between said roll supporting member and the roll therein substantially throughout the length of the working surface of said roll, at least one lubricating passage in each bearing in open communication with the bearing-contacting surface of the roll therein, a pressure fed lubricant reservoir Within each roll-supporting memher and having open corrmtunication with said lubricating passage therein, lubricant sealing means supported adjacent exposed faces of each bearing at opposite sides of the axis of the roll in said bearing and in wiping contact with and longitudinally of that part of the roll surface exposed by the bearing, supporting and retaining plates for said lubricant sealing means detachably secured to each roll-supporting member at opposite sides of a roll, and pressure fluid filed flexible members interposed between the lubricant sealing means and the retaining plates urging said sealing means in lubricant sealing and wiping engagement with a roll.

2. A rolling mill as claimed in claim 1, in which the pressure fed lubricant reservoir is disposed in the roll bearing longitudinally along a face thereof which engages the roll-supporting member accommodating said bearing, lateral lubricant conveying passages being provided at longitudinal intervals in the bearing leading from said reservoir to the roll-engaging surface of said bearing and a lubricant feed inlet to the reservoir being provided in an end face of the bearing for admitting lubricant under pressure to the reservoir.

3. A rolling mill as claimed in claim 1, in which the pressure fed lubricant reservoir is disposed in the roll supporting member longitudinally along a side face thereof and lateral lubricant conveying passages in said roll supporting member communicate said reservoir with the roll at an edge of the roll bearing which exposes said roll within the limits of the roll-supporting member, the lubricantsealing means and the supporting and retaining plates concealing said exposed edge of the bearing.

4. A rolling mill as claimed in claim 1, in which each lubricant sealing means comprises a pair of sealing strips arranged in parallel and in spaced relation and the supporting and retaining plates are provided with recessed portions accommodating said strips, one of said strips and a supporting and retaining plate lying in surface engagement respectively with an exposed face of the bearing and a face of the roll-supporting member, the said faces of the bearing and roll-supporting member being in alignment with one another.

5. A rolling mill as claimed in claim 1, in which the lubricant sealing means includes a pair of strips accommodated in parallel pockets in the supporting and retaining plate and a U-leather disposed with its open side towards the bearing and sealing an oil passage between a face of said bearing and said U-leather.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 977,725 Gautschi Dec. 6, 1910 1,744,018 Steckel Ian. 14, 1930 1,892,933 Ooryell Jan. 3, 1933 

